Friday, July 1, 2011

Amadeus (1984)

I recently bought and downloaded an album of 99 of the greatest classical pieces on Amazon. Many of the selections were Mozart, and I knew them so well because I grew up with the film Amadeus. Which is the BEST MOVIE EVARRR!

Amadeus tells the story of Mozart's life through the eyes of the now elderly Salieri, a contemporary of Mozart's whose life had become utterly consumed by his jealousy of Mozart's talent. Mozart is a silly, immature and arrogant brat in Salieri's view, and undeserving of the extraordinary skill he possesses. But it can't be denied that Mozart's skill is out of this world.

F. Murray Abraham is phenomenal as Salieri, and Tom Hulce as Mozart is obnoxious and brilliant and completely human. And the music! You don't have to be a classical music fan to enjoy and appreciate this film, but it definitely helps. It's funny, it's tragic...I just can't say enough good things about it. It took home 8 Oscars (including Best Picture) in 1984, and yeah, you need to go watch it right now. It's amazing. Watch the clip below for a scene of musical humiliation! Ouch!